Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Government calculations have forecast an additional 18,000 people will go insolvent by 2020 should interest rates rise just 1%, according to figures released exclusively to Moore Stephens. Moore Stephens says that the Bank of England has come under recent scrutiny from the Treasury Select Committee and senior government figures, with record-low interest rates accused of…
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Bluestone Group has announced the appointment of David Torpey as Managing Director (MD) of Bluestone Mortgages and Group Chief Operations Officer (COO). Torpey will fill the newly created COO role as well as assuming the position of Managing Director of Bluestone’s mortgage business, replacing Matt Andrews who has recently left the business. Torpey brings nearly…
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Energy switching hit a six-year high last year as more households shopped around for a better deal. 7.7 million gas or electricity switches took place in 2016, according to new data from Ofgem. This is 1.7 million more switches than the previous year, a surge of 28 per cent. In this way, switching rates last year…
Read moreThe British Banking Association’s (BBA) latest high street banking data shows that consumer borrowing through overdrafts, loans and credit cards grew at an annual rate of 6.7%. Other findings include: Gross mortgage borrowing totalled £13.8 billion in January, 6.3% higher than the same period last year Re-mortgaging approvals in January were 15.7% higher than January…
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European debt collections specialist Lindorff Group has announced it’s 2016 full year net revenue and adjusted EBITDA excluding non-recurring items (NRIs) were EUR 647million and EUR 433 million, representing an increase compared to last year of 21% and 24% respectively. Lindorff‘s full year collection performance on its own portfolios was at 106 percent of active forecast. In…
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Profits for British Gas’ owner Centrica have risen by 4% to £1.515bn over 12 months, whilst profits from British Gas’ residential energy supply business fell 11% last year to £553m. Iain Conn, Chief Executive of Centrica “The big message is that it’s very competitive out there actually, We have seen increased metering and other costs…
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The Office of National Statistics (ONS) has published an interactive housing affordability calculator, allowing users to see what level of household income they might expect to need in order to be able to get a mortgage on an entry-level property in their neighbourhood. The calculator uses some assumptions about the size of the deposit, the multiples…
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The Council of Mortgage Lenders estimates that gross mortgage lending reached £18.9 billion in January. This is 6% lower than December’s lending total of £20 billion, but 2% higher than the £18.6 billion lent in January last year. This is the highest lending total for a January since 2008 (£25.2 billion). Commenting on market conditions…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have today published it’s latest data bulletin for The Consumer Contact Centre. The bulletin includes the latest trends in the retirement income market. The Consumer Contact Centre is the main point of contact for consumers of financial services firms who want to interact with the FCA; it handles more than…
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Teachers Building Society has pointed Simon Beresford as its new Chief Executive Officer. Beresford will replace Finance Director Dean Fensome, who has acted as Interim Chief Executive. Having recently held the position of Managing Director for BlackRock’s retail business, Beresford has also served at Nationwide where he was a branch director, Managing Director of personal…
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New research from Intelligent Environments has found an overwhelming majority of University students are feeling the stress created by their financial situation. Three quarters of students polled that receive a maintenance loan feel stressed about the amount of debt they are accumulating while studying, the effects of which are wide reaching. 39% said their debt has…
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Callcredit Information Group has announced that it has achieved full Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) authorisation. The authorisation process involved the Group companies demonstrating they had in place robust business plans, risk management frameworks, and had adequate systems and processes in place to support fair consumer outcomes. In addition, the companies were required to propose a number…
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A new Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report into the use of benefit sanctions has revealed jobcentres and providers use them “inconsistently”, with some Work Programme providers referring twice as many people for sanctions as others in the same area. It also found the “severity” of sanctions – a reduction or suspension of payments because a claimant…
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